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0:01 Welcome to the Daily Blade. 0:03 The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. 0:11 Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. 0:17 Let's sharpen up.
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0:20 All right, day four. 0:21 We've made it to Philippians 1, beginning in verse 15. 0:25 Paul says, some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry. 0:29 What he's referencing here is what I said yesterday. 0:31 He's saying, Because of my imprisonment, some people have become confident in the Lord and are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 0:39 Now he's going to talk about these people that are preaching. 0:41 He's still going to say, some have good motives and some have impure motives. 0:45 He says, Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 0:50 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 0:56 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 1:05 Verse 18. 1:07 What then? 1:08 So Paul says, So what should I think about this? 1:11 What should I think about those people that are doing things to intentionally try to hurt me, even if they are using the banner of Christianity by which to do it? 1:23 What then? 1:24 What should I do? 1:24 What should my attitude be? 1:26 Check this out, verse 18. 1:28 Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. 1:35 And in that I rejoice. 1:37 Let me ask you a couple questions. 1:38 I'm kind of asking me this too. 1:41 Do you always see the negative in every circumstance that requires your opinion or judgment? 1:48 Or can you see the good in every situation? 1:52 Let me ask it another way, because that's what Paul's doing. 1:54 Paul could have lambasted these guys and said, hey, I don't think these men have the right kind of motives and y'all go get them. 2:02 That's not what he does. 2:03 He rejoices in the fact that Christ is being proclaimed, even if they're not doing it with the right motives. 2:09 Let me ask you another question. 2:10 Do you assume the worst in assuming the motives in others when you don't have all the info? 2:16 Or do you choose to believe the best? 2:18 Let me ask it another way. 2:20 Are you okay knowing that God is sovereign even over the people that you don't like? 2:25 Or do you think he could use your approval in order for them to continue in whatever activity that you have deemed inappropriate based on the motives that you have ascribed? 2:36 Everybody knows what a Karen is, right? 2:38 I think it's an unfortunate kind of cultural reality because all the Karen's I know just happen to be the most godly women I've ever met, but you know what him is. 2:45 Culturally, right now, a Karen is someone that oversteps their authority and inserts themselves into situations that they were not invited in order to share opinions or judgments that they've been not at they've not been asked to give. 2:57 You see, Paul is no Karen. 3:00 He actually has as much spiritual authority as anyone on the earth, and yet he does not compare, nor does he ascribe motives. 3:08 Instead, he is observing outcomes. 3:11 Paul is so goal driven by the Great Commission, and he is not personality driven. 3:17 Paul is not basing his assessment of a situation based on his own subjective feelings and personal preferences, but instead based on results. 3:25 And the results are even with the people with ill intention that are sharing the gospel, the gospel does what it does. 3:32 And even though he says some folks have negative intention, Paul rejoices that Christ is being proclaimed. 3:40 Let me tell you, comparison is the thief of joy. 3:44 Coveting will kill you because coveting is actually an affront against an Almighty God. 3:50 Coveting is such a big deal that it made the top 10 list. 3:54 The tenth commandment is thou shalt not covet anything from thy neighbor. 3:59 And when we covet, that means we're not only looking at our neighbor saying, I wish I had what he had, but we're actually looking at God and saying, God, you got this wrong. 4:09 You gave him too much influence and me not enough. 4:12 God, you gave her too much money and me not enough. 4:14 God, you don't know what you're doing. 4:16 And so what Paul decides to do in the book of Philippians, which is known as the book of joy, is Paul decides to rejoice in the success of others in the kingdom instead of always policing their motives. 4:30 Let me warn you: anytime you begin to ascribe motives to other people, you are in a territory that you have not been invited into. 4:40 And so maybe, maybe, maybe you know that you know that you know that there are some bad actors out there and they are saying things or twisting things and they are coming about you. 4:51 Let me encourage you to have the same attitude as demonstrated by the Apostle Paul. 4:56 He's gonna say it in Galatians 1, 10. 4:59 Am I now trying to win the approval of man or of God? 5:02 For if I were trying to win the approval of man, I could no longer be a servant of Christ Jesus. 5:07 Then you pray for those people. 5:09 You pay attention to how God is going to use people even if they have bad intentions, and you praise God when it has the right kind of outcomes, and then you trust those people with bad motives to be judged by God. 5:22 Amen.